Particle_Man
Explorer
Once, I rolled it (I have been playing since 1982). He was a paladin too! 2nd ed, with a kit, as I recall. Alas, the game didn't last that long.
Ever see a Strengh 18/00 rolled legitimately?
- Thread starter Wik
- Start date
Plane Sailing
Astral Admin - Mwahahaha!
I saw it once, back in 1978. Someone new to D&D rolled up his first character. Rolled 3d6 for Str and got an 18. I handed him the percentage dice and told him to roll them, and he rolled 00.
Never seen it legimitimately rolled apart from that circumstance.
Never seen it legimitimately rolled apart from that circumstance.
Mishihari Lord
First Post
None for me, but I do recall my brother rolling up a cavalier under the 2e UA rules. You roll percentile for social class and ... yup, 00. His character's dad was a king. Never seen it before or since.
We had a time when we wanted to break from power gaming. I think we did 4d6 drop one. The player who got an 18 strength threw the percentile dice and it came up '00'. It was a very shocking turn as illegitimate exceptional strength had been a feature of previous game sessions.
The overall character, aside from the strength, was pretty unimpressive.
The overall character, aside from the strength, was pretty unimpressive.
Abraxas
Explorer
I have rolled 18/00 once (using 4d6, drop lowest, allocate) and have seen it rolled once. I have also gotten 18/81, 18/27 and an 18/05. Between the years 1978 to 2000. Including a 2 year stretch where we would have a TPK every time we got to 5th level. So - a lot of characters created - not a lot of 18 STR scores.
On a much more humorous note I once saw a player get 00 for a system shock roll followed up by getting 00 on a resurrection roll after saying - both times - I only fail if I roll double zero. That was one dead character.
On a much more humorous note I once saw a player get 00 for a system shock roll followed up by getting 00 on a resurrection roll after saying - both times - I only fail if I roll double zero. That was one dead character.
Holy Bovine
First Post
Twice. I rolled one for my 1E Cavalier (what a waste as the Cavalier we were using got to add +2d10% to his Strength every so many levels) and my brother in law rolled 18/00 for his dwarf barbarian. Those are the only 2 I ever witnessed but it was by far the most common stat of people I played with for fighter.
Thunderfoot
Hero
Okay, yes this DID happen....
Have I seen an 18/00 yes. We had three players who were playing fighters (me included). We rolled at the table. I rolled an 18/98, another rolled an 18/99 and the third an 18/00. While this may have been the "dream team" fighter line-up it was short lived... When we rolled for hit points, we all rolled 1s, even with a +1 or +2 to hp, we were more fragile than the mage. We never made it past first level.
I actually remember this game fondly, believe it or not.
Have I seen an 18/00 yes. We had three players who were playing fighters (me included). We rolled at the table. I rolled an 18/98, another rolled an 18/99 and the third an 18/00. While this may have been the "dream team" fighter line-up it was short lived... When we rolled for hit points, we all rolled 1s, even with a +1 or +2 to hp, we were more fragile than the mage. We never made it past first level.
I actually remember this game fondly, believe it or not.
Heathen72
Explorer
Wik, I am sad that you are distressed. And indeed, as you say, the odds are not 1 in 216,000.
However, if you read my post, the first which made mention of the statistic in question, you might find that the odds referred to are actually 1 in 21,600 - not 216,000. You also might find that I was clearly making reference to the days when you rolled your stats straight, without assigning them - which means, as you say, that you got one chance per character of rolling an 18 strength, and hence only one chance per character of rolling percentile dice.
My post was ultimately about what to consider legit. 18/00 isn't that special when you you roll 4d6 keep best 3, assign how you like, roll again when you roll a boring character because some feeble GM lets you. Hell, I know a fair few GM's who were happy to let you roll characters until you had one that had at least an 18. Roll percentile on that and you get a character with 18/00 1 in every 100 characters. But who cares? And if you are are then rolling a new character every week or if the only 18/00 you ever rolled was when you were playing nethack it becomes even less remarkable.
Legit means different things to different people. But rolling 18/00 - with one shot at the roll - mean that your character would truly be one out of the box - a potential Cuchulain or Ulysses
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Upper_Krust
Hero
Hey all!
I actually rolled an 18/00 for a character called Thrin back in 1988 who began life a 3rd level Elf Cavalier and ended up as a 117th-level Human Lesser God.
Immortality
I actually rolled an 18/00 for a character called Thrin back in 1988 who began life a 3rd level Elf Cavalier and ended up as a 117th-level Human Lesser God.
Immortality
Twowolves
Explorer
More than once, and legitimately.
Starting up a new group for a long running sandbox 1st ed game, the guy making the ranger rolled an 18 for Str, then dropped the first d10 of the percintile pair and got a "0". Everyone snickered and laughed, until the second die dropped also hit "0"....
He died lots though. Brutal world. Fortunately, I was his druid buddy, and I had a bag big enough to drag his body (or what was left of it) back to his temple to get raised every time he did something bone-headed. I called it my "Bag of Ranger Holding".
Starting up a new group for a long running sandbox 1st ed game, the guy making the ranger rolled an 18 for Str, then dropped the first d10 of the percintile pair and got a "0". Everyone snickered and laughed, until the second die dropped also hit "0"....
He died lots though. Brutal world. Fortunately, I was his druid buddy, and I had a bag big enough to drag his body (or what was left of it) back to his temple to get raised every time he did something bone-headed. I called it my "Bag of Ranger Holding".
Irked Particle
Villager
Wow. This is that rare?? I've only ever played a couple campaigns, the most recent about 15 years ago. I played a Barbarian & one of my friends played a fighter. We both legitimately rolled 18/00 when rolling characters. We made our rolls on carpet with different sets of dice, if that matters. But our DM absolutely did not allow re-rolls.
At the time it happened, our DM ranted & raved about it, saying he'd never seen anything like it in maybe a decade of playing. I just figured he was exaggerating a bit trying to get us pumped or something.
Then he told us that if we both created characters together every day for the rest of our lives, the odds of two people simultaneously rolling 18/00 in the same session was EXTREMELY unlikely. I was floored.
I've always been pretty lucky at winning things, stuff like that. I will say my charisma was like a 9, so that wasn't good. We ended up having a lot of laughs from that while playing, saying what my character lacked in looks her made up for in strength. We had some pretty amazing situations having two characters both with 18/00 who didn't understand their own abilities at first. I had no idea what it really meant in game until our DM explained the kind of strength we were both capable of. It was ridiculous but a ton of fun.
I have never posted on any D&D forum in my life, & there's a lot I don't remember. But today I just happened to be thinking about the odds pf 18/00 he explained back then, for some reason, & decided to look it up to get some other opinions & found this thread. So it turns out, according to all you guy's posts, our DM was totally right: it's incredibly rare to legitimately roll. And by some miracle, I was part of a twofer in the same session.
I realize I'm just some random dude with no reputation here, but I'm telling you this story is absolutely true. I suppose you'll have to either take my word or not. Instead of D&D, I should've played the lottery that day, sheesh!
We were so inexperienced & such casual players that I feel kind of unworthy of such a rare circumstance.
Having read this thread now, I realize how special that really was. Incredible!
Anyway, this will likely be the only post I make since I'm not in contact with anyone who plays anymore. I wouldn't be against trying again in the future, but I'd have to meet people who play & such.
I don't even know if anyone will read this, but I figured someone might want to have this story documented. Thanks for reading!
At the time it happened, our DM ranted & raved about it, saying he'd never seen anything like it in maybe a decade of playing. I just figured he was exaggerating a bit trying to get us pumped or something.
Then he told us that if we both created characters together every day for the rest of our lives, the odds of two people simultaneously rolling 18/00 in the same session was EXTREMELY unlikely. I was floored.
I've always been pretty lucky at winning things, stuff like that. I will say my charisma was like a 9, so that wasn't good. We ended up having a lot of laughs from that while playing, saying what my character lacked in looks her made up for in strength. We had some pretty amazing situations having two characters both with 18/00 who didn't understand their own abilities at first. I had no idea what it really meant in game until our DM explained the kind of strength we were both capable of. It was ridiculous but a ton of fun.
I have never posted on any D&D forum in my life, & there's a lot I don't remember. But today I just happened to be thinking about the odds pf 18/00 he explained back then, for some reason, & decided to look it up to get some other opinions & found this thread. So it turns out, according to all you guy's posts, our DM was totally right: it's incredibly rare to legitimately roll. And by some miracle, I was part of a twofer in the same session.
I realize I'm just some random dude with no reputation here, but I'm telling you this story is absolutely true. I suppose you'll have to either take my word or not. Instead of D&D, I should've played the lottery that day, sheesh!
We were so inexperienced & such casual players that I feel kind of unworthy of such a rare circumstance.
Having read this thread now, I realize how special that really was. Incredible!
Anyway, this will likely be the only post I make since I'm not in contact with anyone who plays anymore. I wouldn't be against trying again in the future, but I'd have to meet people who play & such.
I don't even know if anyone will read this, but I figured someone might want to have this story documented. Thanks for reading!
Irked Particle
Villager
Wow. This is that rare?? I've only ever played a couple campaigns, the most recent about 15 years ago. I played a Barbarian & one of my friends played a fighter. We both legitimately rolled 18/00 when rolling characters. We made our rolls on carpet with different sets of dice, if that matters. But our DM absolutely did not allow re-rolls.
At the time it happened, our DM ranted & raved about it, saying he'd never seen anything like it in maybe a decade of playing. I just figured he was exaggerating a bit trying to get us pumped or something. Then he told us that if we played for rest of our lives, the odds of two people simultaneously rolling 18/00 in the same session was extremely unlikely. I was floored.
I've always been pretty lucky at winning things, stuff like that. I will say my charisma was like a 9, so that wasn't good. We ended up having a lot of laughs from that while playing, saying what my character lacked in looks her made up for in strength. We had some pretty amazing situations having two characters both with 18/00 who didn't understand their own abilities at first. I had no idea what it really meant in game until our DM explained the kind of strength we were both capable of. It was ridiculous but a ton of fun.
I have never posted on any D&D forum in my life, & there's a lot I don't remember. But today I just happened to be thinking about the odds pf 18/00 he explained back then, for some reason, & decided to look it up to get some other opinions & found this thread. So it turns out, according to all you guy's posts, our DM was totally right: it's incredibly rare to legitimately roll. And by some miracle, I was part of a twofer in the same session.
I realize I'm just some random dude with no reputation here, but this story is true. I suppose you'll have to either take my word or not. Instead of D&D, I should've played the lottery that day, sheesh!
We were so inexperienced & such casual players that I feel kind of unworthy of such a rare circumstance. Having read this thread now, I realize how special that really was.
Anyway, this will likely be the only post I make since I'm not in contact with anyone who plays anymore. I wouldn't be against trying again in the future, but I'd have to meet people who play & such.
I don't even know if anyone will read this since the most recent prior comment is 11 years old, but I figured someone might want to know this happened at least once. Thanks for reading!
At the time it happened, our DM ranted & raved about it, saying he'd never seen anything like it in maybe a decade of playing. I just figured he was exaggerating a bit trying to get us pumped or something. Then he told us that if we played for rest of our lives, the odds of two people simultaneously rolling 18/00 in the same session was extremely unlikely. I was floored.
I've always been pretty lucky at winning things, stuff like that. I will say my charisma was like a 9, so that wasn't good. We ended up having a lot of laughs from that while playing, saying what my character lacked in looks her made up for in strength. We had some pretty amazing situations having two characters both with 18/00 who didn't understand their own abilities at first. I had no idea what it really meant in game until our DM explained the kind of strength we were both capable of. It was ridiculous but a ton of fun.
I have never posted on any D&D forum in my life, & there's a lot I don't remember. But today I just happened to be thinking about the odds pf 18/00 he explained back then, for some reason, & decided to look it up to get some other opinions & found this thread. So it turns out, according to all you guy's posts, our DM was totally right: it's incredibly rare to legitimately roll. And by some miracle, I was part of a twofer in the same session.
I realize I'm just some random dude with no reputation here, but this story is true. I suppose you'll have to either take my word or not. Instead of D&D, I should've played the lottery that day, sheesh!
We were so inexperienced & such casual players that I feel kind of unworthy of such a rare circumstance. Having read this thread now, I realize how special that really was.
Anyway, this will likely be the only post I make since I'm not in contact with anyone who plays anymore. I wouldn't be against trying again in the future, but I'd have to meet people who play & such.
I don't even know if anyone will read this since the most recent prior comment is 11 years old, but I figured someone might want to know this happened at least once. Thanks for reading!
Irked Particle
Villager
Wow. This is that rare?? I've only ever played a couple campaigns, the most recent about 15 years ago. I played a Barbarian & one of my friends played a fighter. We both legitimately rolled 18/00 when rolling characters. We made our rolls on carpet with different sets of dice, if that matters. But our DM absolutely did not allow re-rolls.
At the time it happened, our DM ranted & raved about it, saying he'd never seen anything like it in maybe a decade of playing. I just figured he was exaggerating a bit trying to get us pumped or something. Then he told us that if we played for rest of our lives, the odds of two people simultaneously rolling 18/00 in the same session was extremely unlikely. I was floored.
I've always been pretty lucky at winning things, stuff like that. I will say my charisma was like a 9, so that wasn't good. We ended up having a lot of laughs from that while playing, saying what my character lacked in looks her made up for in strength. We had some pretty amazing situations having two characters both with 18/00 who didn't understand their own abilities at first. I had no idea what it really meant in game until our DM explained the kind of strength we were both capable of. It was ridiculous but a ton of fun.
I have never posted on any D&D forum in my life, & there's a lot I don't remember. But today I just happened to be thinking about the odds pf 18/00 he explained back then, for some reason, & decided to look it up to get some other opinions & found this thread. So it turns out, according to all you guy's posts, our DM was totally right: it's incredibly rare to legitimately roll. And by some miracle, I was part of a twofer in the same session.
I realize I'm just some random dude with no reputation here, but this story is true. I suppose you'll have to either take my word or not. Instead of D&D, I should've played the lottery that day, sheesh!
We were so inexperienced & such casual players that I feel kind of unworthy of such a rare circumstance. Having read this thread now, I realize how special that really was.
Anyway, this will likely be the only post I make since I'm not in contact with anyone who plays anymore. I wouldn't be against trying again in the future, but I'd have to meet people who play & such.
I don't even know if anyone will read this since the most recent prior comment is 11 years old, but I figured someone might want to know this happened at least once. Thanks for reading!
At the time it happened, our DM ranted & raved about it, saying he'd never seen anything like it in maybe a decade of playing. I just figured he was exaggerating a bit trying to get us pumped or something. Then he told us that if we played for rest of our lives, the odds of two people simultaneously rolling 18/00 in the same session was extremely unlikely. I was floored.
I've always been pretty lucky at winning things, stuff like that. I will say my charisma was like a 9, so that wasn't good. We ended up having a lot of laughs from that while playing, saying what my character lacked in looks her made up for in strength. We had some pretty amazing situations having two characters both with 18/00 who didn't understand their own abilities at first. I had no idea what it really meant in game until our DM explained the kind of strength we were both capable of. It was ridiculous but a ton of fun.
I have never posted on any D&D forum in my life, & there's a lot I don't remember. But today I just happened to be thinking about the odds pf 18/00 he explained back then, for some reason, & decided to look it up to get some other opinions & found this thread. So it turns out, according to all you guy's posts, our DM was totally right: it's incredibly rare to legitimately roll. And by some miracle, I was part of a twofer in the same session.
I realize I'm just some random dude with no reputation here, but this story is true. I suppose you'll have to either take my word or not. Instead of D&D, I should've played the lottery that day, sheesh!
We were so inexperienced & such casual players that I feel kind of unworthy of such a rare circumstance. Having read this thread now, I realize how special that really was.
Anyway, this will likely be the only post I make since I'm not in contact with anyone who plays anymore. I wouldn't be against trying again in the future, but I'd have to meet people who play & such.
I don't even know if anyone will read this since the most recent prior comment is 11 years old, but I figured someone might want to know this happened at least once. Thanks for reading!
Wolf72
Explorer
I want to say "sure have!" ... but the more I think about it, the more likely I didn't.
I do remember someone getting a 90+ ...
AND my first character in Pool of Radiance was a Fighter, with a natural 18/00 ... no modifying! ... my second character was an Elf Fighter/Mage that had some sort of glitch when I was using Hillsafar (Hillsfar?) where you could get some extra xp and whatnot. That glitch gave him an 18/00 up from his 18/75. Kept that when I went thru Streams of Silver (was that the 3rd game?)
I do remember someone getting a 90+ ...
AND my first character in Pool of Radiance was a Fighter, with a natural 18/00 ... no modifying! ... my second character was an Elf Fighter/Mage that had some sort of glitch when I was using Hillsafar (Hillsfar?) where you could get some extra xp and whatnot. That glitch gave him an 18/00 up from his 18/75. Kept that when I went thru Streams of Silver (was that the 3rd game?)
beancounter
(I/Me/Mine)
No, but I once legitimately rolled double zeros for psionics.
Maletherin
Explorer
Yes.
I personally did it once in 2E about 1996-1997 while rolling up a fighter, but it didn't matter at all though. That one stat didn't make the character memorable because I can't remember anything else about that PC, their name, race, any adventures I played them in (if I even ever played them at all) what level I reached or how they died. I'm guessing this one falls under the rolled and never played column or rolled, really excited to play, and was dead in 15 minutes column. Either way what a drag it is getting old.
Lanefan
Victoria Rules
This is an old thread but has since had a happy ending: at my table, about 2 years after this thread was started, @Wik got to see another player knock off a legit 18.00.
The character in question, though, turned out to be a real glass cannon and didn't last very long. Ah, Khawy, we hardly knew ye...
The character in question, though, turned out to be a real glass cannon and didn't last very long. Ah, Khawy, we hardly knew ye...
